Airline-Union Tensions Amplify on the Net

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Airline-Union Tensions Amplify on the Net

While American Airlines faces the prospect of being grounded by a pilots' strike, tempers are flying among interested parties in what has emerged as the union hall/corner bar of the '90s: the Internet.

From strident accusations of sabotage and homophobia in Usenet groups, to more sedate postings on corporate and union Web sites, the online debate over the pending strike - called for 12:01 a.m. EST Saturday if negotiations fail - illustrates the Net's growing importance as a communication tool.

It also demonstrates - yet again - how the level playing field of the Internet can turn even the most well-intentioned debate into a bloody free-for-all.

"This is a very emotional situation for a lot of people," said Andrea Rader, a spokeswoman for American Airlines. "As you get closer and closer to a strike, feelings get very raw. I think some of that is showing up in the postings."

A union representative for the airline's 9,000 pilots could not be reached for comment. But an overview of the union's position is readily available on the Web, where visitors Tuesday were informed that "today is the 894th day that the pilots of American Airlines are flying without a current contract." A group inside the union is also posting letters and rants about the strike on the Web.

"Instead of responding to our offers with constructive proposals of their own," the site informs, "[American Airlines'] management has resorted to a variety of stalling tactics which have caused the talks to drag on and on."

For its part, the airline is using its own Web site to warn passengers of the possible strike, and to offer assurances that it's doing all it can to come to terms with the pilots. A key issue still dividing labor and management is that of pay hikes.

Rader termed the negotiations "very, very tough," as evidenced by the depth of feeling in many online postings. This is especially true, she added, in the related chat group on America Online, where tempers have been running hot in any case because of ongoing busy signals.

"The tenor of the comments on CompuServe isn't quite as bitter as on AOL," Rader noted. "I don't know why that is."

Strike-related postings have been turning up on rec.travel.air, rec.travel.misc, alt.flame.airlines, and especially misc.transport.air-industry, where things have grown so heated that the group's moderator was compelled to plead, "Let's not get the whole issue wound up in pro- or anti-union rhetoric, please!"

Clay Ryder, director of Zona Research, an Internet-related consulting group, observed that the immediacy of the online medium allows people to air their feelings without pausing to weigh the consequences of their actions. This, he said, can cause discussions to quickly spiral into mud-slinging.

"One thing this shows is that back when people had to chisel things in stone, or use pen and quill, or even use a typewriter, tempers would calm down," Ryder said. "With email, we all have the ability to make fools of ourselves."